Doing it His Way

By Mitchell S. Karnes

In 1969, Frank Sinatra released “My Way,” in which the singer faces his final stage (end of his life) and declares that through the hills and valleys of life, “I did it my way.” On the surface, it is a wonderful thought. No matter what life threw against me, I did not buckle. I made my own path. Nearly one hundred years earlier, poet William Ernest Henley penned similar words. He declared, “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” (Invictus). This too sounds heroic, but are these words a Christian author should declare?

Frank Sinatra was proud to do it his way, but at the end of my life I want to know I did it God’s way.

On the surface, we should seek to be unique, to allow our voice to sound true. We should be inspired by other writers and (occasionally) emulate their style, but we must be true to the writers we are. We serve a God who makes every snowflake unique. Should the pinnacle of His creation be any less unique? No. It took me over forty years of writing to give myself that grace and freedom to find my own voice and tell the stories God entrusted to me. 

That having been said, I used “my” too many times. I am first and foremost a Christian. Everything I have and everything I am are gifts from God. When Jesus became my Lord and Savior, I submitted myself to His will and vowed to serve Him faithfully. That includes my fiction writing. Of course, I stumble and fall. I get hung up on myself and take a little too much pride in my works. 

I struggled for years, writing with no specific direction or goal other than being published. The day I turned my gift of writing over to Jesus and asked what story He wanted me to tell, doors of opportunity opened. I still put in the work and diligently pushed toward His goal for me, but things happened that had no other explanation but God’s grace. I found a wonderful agent who helped me hone my skills as she searched for publishers willing to take a chance on difficult Christian topics. I was too gritty for the Christian market and too Christian for the mainstream one. Mike Parker, founder of WordCrafts, said that is just the niche he was looking to tap.

God made you a unique, one-of-a-kind person and writer. Use the voice He has given you, but be faithful with the journey He has set before you. Reach the audience He has placed in your heart. Tell the stories that will not leave you alone, that pester you until you put them on paper (or the screen). Be faithful to God and be true to yourself, in that order. When you do, you will find a freedom and drive that you have never had before. Since I wrote Water Grave, book one of my Abbey Rhodes Mysteries series with WordCrafts, I have discovered an audience of people who identify with Abbey’s troubled past, her anger with the church, and her difficulty in trusting others. I pray they will continue to follow her journey toward reconciliation with her past, the church, and ultimately God.

We are currently in the process of filming the streaming series of Water Grave, with the hope of continuing through the six-book journey. The pilot is finished and in the final stages of editing. Soon, it will be in the hands of those who will make it available to a much wider audience. Remember, those who are faithful in little will be entrusted with much. I’d rather get to the end of my career/life and know I did it His way.

Mitchell S. Karnes is best known for his Abbey Rhodes Mystery series. Mitchell uses his experiences as a pastor, teacher, counselor, and a two-time cancer survivor to challenge and inspire his readers to live for Christ Jesus.